It is well documented in the literature that an oral appliance that opens the bite and moves the mandible forward will greatly reduce sleep apnea and snoring. It is also documented that these appliances are capable of producing considerable discomfort to patients, unwanted movement of their teeth, and/or temporomandibular joint pain as well as other problems.
A variety of trial oral appliances are available for preventing snoring and sleep apnea. Of these, all are removable, and most advance the mandible, but, to our knowledge, none use elastic bands to move the mandible forward. Heretofore all trial dental sleep appliances have been made of bulky “boil & bite” material. These appliances have not been effective and have not had patient acceptance or compliance. These uncomfortable devices have driven patients away from wanting to be treated by a custom oral appliance.
Also, several removable, oral snoring/apnea appliances are adjustable, pulling the jaw forward in different, set percentages of their maximum movement. However, no existing appliance known to us is totally adjustable, both in amount of forward movement and vertical opening. Instead, temporary or permanent adjustments to appliances are made by either placing spacers, turning screws, or by grinding away plastic or other material. These modifications change the amount of advancement; however, have locked the patient's jaw in one ridged spot causing TMJ pain. Once modifications are made, however, they are permanent until further modified by the doctor. In summary, appliances exist in which the amount of advancement may be changed, but the changes result in a new fixed position of the mandible many times creating pain and discomfort. Other appliances do not offer easily changed vertical or caudal displacement of the mandible to increase the effectiveness of the appliance.
What is needed is a totally adjustable trial oral snoring/sleep apnea appliance which is effective, which has high patient acceptance, and which will not cause temporomandibular joint problems, unwanted tooth movement or soreness. This need is satisfied by the present invention.
The appliance of the present invention is to greatly reduce, or eliminate, sleep apnea and snoring, while alleviating temporomandibular joint problems, unwanted tooth movement and soreness, with complete adjustability of the appliance both in the amount of forward movement of the lower jaw, and in the amount of vertical bite opening. Another object is a mandibular advancement appliance with high patient acceptance, comfort, and treatment success. Another object is to make the appliance in a single office visit using machines normally supplied in a typical dentist's office.
The use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicates similar or identical items.